


Control

by Mistress_of_Squirrels



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 03:10:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15986366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistress_of_Squirrels/pseuds/Mistress_of_Squirrels
Summary: Cal was fire, molten steel and bright heat. In a shift of mood as fickle as the wind, she could burn him alive, scattering what was left to ash and dust with the same manic glee he’d see in her eyes when they went after some shitty little settlement. It’s just what the boss did. His job was to keep that blaze in check, and if all else failed, get himself the fuck out of her way. He knew that and still he was drawn, like a kid to a stove, sticking his hand out just to see if it really was hot.





	Control

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my WIP folder for the better part of a year. It was supposed to be an attempt at writing raider smut. I failed.... It's fluff, or as fluffy as these assholes get

After counting out a bag of caps, Gage checked the list Shank gave him to see that his number matched the one written down and then carefully swept them into a pile. He could think of a dozen different things he’d rather do with his time than take inventory, but someone had to see that the gangs were giving the boss her due, and it sure wasn’t gonna be her. Cal wasn’t the meticulous sort. She left the bookwork to him, only getting involved if he reported a problem, and that had only happened once, when some Pack peon thought he could keep a few caps for himself with no one the wiser.

 

It hadn’t ended well for him, and after Cal had a long chat with Mason, the alpha was more careful about who he chose to deliver the Pack’s tribute. Nisha was smarter than that, anyway, but as far as Gage was concerned, a reminder that it wasn’t Colter up here anymore hadn’t hurt. So far, it seemed like the gangs got the message, loud and clear. Didn’t mean he trusted any of ‘em enough to think it would last long. Raiders were greedy assholes.

 

Cal stepped out onto the patio just as Gage started in on another sack of caps. She flashed a grin as he looked up and wandered over, nodding at the list.

 

“Whatcha got?”

 

Her hair, still wet from washing, hung in dripping tendrils around her face. He opened his mouth to reply, the words dying in his throat as a drop of water hit her chest and left a slow, glistening trail along the curve of her breast before it disappeared beneath the wide strip of fabric she wore in place of a shirt. Gage swallowed, his mouth suddenly gone dry, and held the list out, remembering too late that she couldn’t read it.

 

Cal made no move to take the sheet of paper, but she didn’t look offended by his slip. She tilted her head, cocking one dark brow, and Gage realized he still hadn’t answered her.

 

“Numbers for this week’s tribute, boss.” Gage waved the paper at the open chest and added, “Just makin’ sure everything’s square.”

 

Cal nodded, looking bored as she combed her fingers through her wet hair. “And?”

 

“Pack’s good. Haven’t got to the Disciples yet, but it can wait, if you need somethin’?”

 

“Don’t let me stop you,” Cal said, shaking her head.

 

The boss grabbed a bottle of Nuka Cherry from the dresser and opened it, sprawling back on the bed as she watched him with half-lidded eyes. Without her armor, she looked like one of those big cats he’d seen pictures of, all lean lines and hard muscle. Gage took a moment to appreciate the view she offered before reluctantly dragging his attention back to the uncounted caps.

 

It was hard to focus when he could practically feel her gaze on him. Twice, he lost count, torn between finishing the job and finding an excuse - any excuse - for another glimpse of the boss as she lounged behind him. He was on his third attempt when he felt her hot breath at his neck, and damn if that didn’t just kill what was left of his concentration.

 

“Trouble?” Cal purred.

 

“You ain’t exactly makin’ it easy here, boss,” Gage defended, holding back a shudder as her tongue flicked at a sensitive spot just below his ear.

 

“Just tryin’ to figure out why you waste your time. They know better than to cheat me.”

 

That was...troubling, Gage decided. The kind of shit Colter might say, though he knew Cal wasn’t anywhere near that level of stupid. Still, it bothered him to hear her put so much trust in the gangs. He’d have thought she knew how dangerous that sort of thing could be.

 

Gage turned his head, trying to catch her eye.

 

“Someone’s gotta make sure you ain’t gettin’ fucked over.”

 

Cal laughed, her nails raking the stubble of his scalp as she tightened her fingers in his mohawk and gave a sharp tug. “Give me _some_ credit, Gage. I ain’t some naive little wastelander.

 

“Mason played his hand. He’ll betray me as soon as the price is right, and I’ve already got someone in mind to replace him when the time comes. Until then, he’ll be a good dog.”

 

“And Nisha, Nisha ain’t stupid. Lucky for her, she also ain’t hard to please, but if she ever _does_ make a move, it won’t be somethin’ you can catch as easy as countin’ caps.”

 

The boss tugged on his hair again, angling his head so she could drag her tongue along the angle of his jaw. “You can relax for five minutes. Promise.”

 

Gage wanted to. He really did, but all his experience with raiders told him that was a bad idea. It also didn’t help that everything he knew about the boss told him that she was just waiting for trouble. Cal lived for that shit. It wasn’t _hers_ if she hadn’t fought for it, and having it meant fuck all if someone else wasn’t trying to take it.

 

The boss despised ass-kissers and almost seemed to welcome some level of defiance. A thin line, that, but that was where Cal lived, that was where she _shined_ : straddling that narrow zone between control and chaos, one foot planted firmly on either side. She craved power, but got bored if it went unchallenged. Drove him insane sometimes, but Gage couldn’t argue that defending what was hers was where the boss was at her best.

 

Of course, that left _him_ filling in the gaps. He didn’t mind, but she sure didn’t make it easy to do his part.

 

“You can’t do it, can you?” Cal goaded, nipping at his ear.

 

“Boss?”

 

For a moment, Gage was confused. He did his job - even Colter hadn’t complained about that. And it really wasn’t fair to criticize when the boss was doing her damndest to distract him.

 

“You can’t leave it. For all your talk, you _want_ to be in charge.”

 

Gage shook his head, not entirely sure he was comfortable with where the conversation was going. “I told you, leadin’ ain’t my style.”

 

“Bullshit,” Cal smirked. “You don’t want the risk that comes with it, sure, but don’t tell me you don’t like pullin’ strings.”

 

There really wasn’t a way to deny that without going back on what he’d already said. Cal actually listened to him; she took advantage of his experience in a way Colter never had. It felt good to be respected, appreciated, even, for what he had to offer, but that didn’t mean he wanted to change things up.

 

Why fix what wasn’t broke?

 

“It ain’t like that,” Gage began warily. “Not exactly.”

 

He considered what they had a partnership; different contributions working towards a mutual goal, but it could go real bad, real quick if the boss saw things differently. Cal wasn’t the type to tolerate competition, and she sure as hell wouldn’t stand for playing the puppet. She was everything he’d ever imagined in an Overboss, everything Colter _should_ have been. If she had the wrong idea…

 

Gage swallowed hard.

 

“‘Course it is,” the boss cooed, fingers curling around his biceps while her lips fastened at his throat -  and just _how the hell_ did she expect him to have a single coherent thought while she was doing _that_?

 

“It don’t have to be just one or the other.” Cal continued, sliding her palms down his arms and to his sides, slipping her hands beneath his shirt as she dropped kisses along the back of his neck. “You could have both, if you wanted. Hell, it might even be fun.”

 

Cal’s definition of fun ran a little too close to Nisha’s for his taste. Even so, she had his attention.  “What’re you sayin’, boss?”

 

“I’m sayin’ leave the boring shit for another day. No target on your back up here, no one lookin’ to get a step ahead. Just you and me.” Cal’s nails scraped along his ribs, the dig of her fingers just shy of pain as she leaned in close to his ear, her voice a husky whisper. “You like games, so let’s play.”

 

His heart thundering in his ears, Gage was suddenly reminded of the fire barrels that ringed the perimeter outside of Nuka Town, and the bloodbugs and bloatflies they never failed to attract. He’d laugh whenever one got too close and met its inevitable fate; anything that dumb deserved what it got. Now, he wondered if maybe he wasn’t the idiot all along for thinking he was any different.

 

Cal was fire, molten steel and bright heat. In a shift of mood as fickle as the wind, she could burn him alive, scattering what was left to ash and dust with the same manic glee he’d see in her eyes when they went after some shitty little settlement. It’s just what the boss did. His job was to keep that blaze in check, and if all else failed, get himself the fuck out of her way. He knew that and still he was drawn, like a kid to a stove, sticking his hand out just to see if it really was hot.

 

Mouth dry, Gage turned his head from the tickle of her hair. He couldn’t see her, positioned in what he doubted was an accident on his blind side, but she’d stilled the motion of her hands as she waited. For what, he couldn’t say. It wasn’t the first time he’d shared her bed, if that’s what she was working up to. He hoped it was, but something felt... _off_. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear she was holding her breath.

 

“What’d ya have in mind?” he asked carefully, straining his other senses as though they might give him some idea of what she was thinking.

 

She _had_ been holding her breath. It left her in a rush as she laughed, “That’s the game, Gage. You tell me. Your rules.”

 

Either he’d misheard, or they weren’t talking about what he thought they were.

 

Shifting so he could see her face, Gage wasn’t sure how to respond. Sex with Cal was a lot like one of the park rides; thrilling, but she didn’t leave him much to do but hang on until it was over. His choice to get on, of course, and he always knew what he was signing up for, but like everything else in Nuka World, there was never a question of who was in charge. ‘Til now, apparently.

 

Maybe.

 

What was he supposed to do with that?

 

It wasn’t that the idea didn’t have appeal. Far from it. The boss wasn’t bad looking by any means - still had most of her teeth and everything. She wasn’t one of those pin-up beauties in the PreWar mags, but they were all dead anyway. Red lips and soft skin didn’t count for shit in the wasteland. Cal was a _survivor,_ tough as nails and sharp as a tack _._ She knew the deck was stacked and made her own rules, a leader in every sense of the word. He’d never met anyone like her and knew he never would. What she was offering seemed too good to be true.

 

Maybe it was.

 

There was no one Gage trusted more - or at all, really - than the boss, but she had a fucked up sense of humor. Could be this was all a joke to her, but then, he’d thought the same thing the first time she’d suggested a change in their sleeping arrangements. She looked a lot like she did then, too, come to think of it; the familiar arch of her brow, the quirk at the corner of her mouth. No doubt she got a kick out of watching him waver and go over it all in his head, but there was nothing in her expression to indicate she was anything but serious.

 

In a slow, deliberate movement, Gage stretched one hand toward her, and tangled his fingers into the damp hair at the back of her neck. His thumb brushed her cheek, lingering over the shiny, knotted scar of a burn just a moment too long to be anything other than intentional before he curled his hand into a loose fist around her hair. Watching her face the entire time, he tightened his fist until she was forced to tip her chin back to look up at him.

 

“My rules?”

 

Nodding as best as she could with his grip on her hair, Cal grinned, tongue curling behind her teeth. “Your rules,” she agreed, but was quick to add, “for now.”

 

“Why?” Gage found himself asking. Figured that he couldn’t just shut up and let things be, but the boss didn’t take orders. She just wasn’t the type. He wondered what brought on the sudden change of heart.

 

Cal shrugged, still wearing that same cocky grin. “Like I said, could be fun.”

 

“Could be.”

 

She tried to straighten into a more comfortable position. Gage imagined the strain on her neck was becoming uncomfortable by now, but out of a perverse curiosity to see what would happen, he gave a quick tug, keeping her head where it was. Cal’s eyes flicked to his, a hint of challenge creeping into their steel depths, but she stopped moving immediately. Whatever she was playing, she meant what she’d said: his rules.

 

Well, wasn’t that something.

 

 _His rules_. It played like a mantra inside his head, his excitement growing with every repetition. And it wasn’t just the idea of having her.  

 

Sure, there was something to be said for fucking the overboss. Off the top of his head, Gage could name at least half a dozen of the shitheads below that would kill to make that claim, but he wanted more than quick and dirty, more than bragging rights. He wanted her stretched out beneath him while he got a chance to look at every inch of her properly. He wanted to find each scar she’d earned fighting for them and their place in the world and memorize the way it felt beneath his fingers, his lips, his tongue. He wanted to taste her until she was shaking and spent, watch her lose her iron grip on control and actually enjoy herself instead of just scratch an itch. After all the boss had done for him, anything less was cheating her of her due. She may not see it that way, but she’d finally given him the chance to show her. Gage wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

 

Relaxing his fist, Gage let the bleached strands slip through his fingers as he slid his thumb along the angle of her jaw and down the column of her throat. Her skin was smoother here, more delicate than what he normally saw of her, with only a few of the freckles that dusted her nose and cheeks. Content with his slow exploration, he began to trace a line from one to the next, intending to follow them as far down as they went.

 

Until he caught sight of the rapid flutter of her pulse.

 

Once more, he was struck by the feeling that something just wasn’t right. She couldn’t be turned on - he hadn’t even started yet. Even with his ego urging otherwise, Gage knew he wasn’t _that_ good. She also wasn’t pissed off. Boss wasn’t one to throw tantrums, but she wasn’t afraid to make a show if one was needed, neither. So what the hell was going on?

 

A quick glance at her face gave him nothing. Cal was calm as ever, the start of a mocking smirk pulling at her lips. Her hand twitched at her side as she shifted her weight to look up at him, and only then did he notice the white-knuckled grasp she had on the tattered blanket beneath them.

 

Definitely not turned on, and not at all how Gage thought this would go. She seemed nervous, maybe even scared, though one of them would probably die before she ever admitted to it. What he couldn’t figure out was _why_. She had to know he wouldn’t try anything. Even if he didn’t respect the hell out of her, he hadn’t gone through all the trouble of making her Overboss just to off her later. ‘Course... he’d done exactly that with Colter, but they’d talked that through. There was no comparison.

 

“Hey.” Cal interrupted his thoughts with a sharp poke to his chest. “We gonna do this or not?”

 

 _Not_ . _Definitely not_.

 

His cock hadn’t gotten the message yet, but no way in hell could he just pick up where he left off. Not like this.

 

He still wanted what she’d offered - god, did he _want_ \- and some twisted part of Gage was kicking himself for letting that go when she’d been so willing to play along. But another part, a part that insisted on feeling something soft and warm and made him think of words he’d rather not when he looked at her argued the price was too high - even if he wasn’t the one paying it.

 

Swallowing a sigh, he ran a hand over his head. He wasn’t good at this shit, but there didn’t seem to be any way around it. Not when she’d looked like she was expecting a knife in her back at any moment.

 

“You trust me, right?”

 

“Don’t be stupid, Gage,” Cal huffed in irritation. “If I didn’t trust you, you’d be down with the rest of ‘em.”

 

“Yeah, boss, but -”

 

The use of her title was habit, an unconscious slip, but the effect on Cal was instant as some of the tension in her shoulders relaxed and the tight line of her jaw softened. It was a subtle change, one Gage doubted he’d have noticed if he weren’t already on alert. Now that he had, the source of her discomfort seemed obvious.

 

Drawing a deep breath, Gage decided to put his theory to the test - hopefully with better results than the last time.

 

“Guess I really ain’t much for rules after all, boss. Never saw much point in ‘em, to be honest.”

 

Cal snickered at that, but something he couldn’t name passed behind her eyes, taking the last of the shadows there with it. “You know what your problem is, Gage? You got no imagination.”

 

“I got plenty,” he grumbled, his annoyance at her taunt only half feigned. He’d given her an out when she was too proud to take one herself, but knowing her, the scales would never truly be balanced in the boss’s eyes until she was certain they were both firmly back in their rightful places.

 

As if to confirm his thoughts, Cal gave a dismissive shrug. “Whatever you say.”

 

The last threads of his patience frayed, dangerously close to snapping. Turning his back to her, Gage seriously considered leaving her there so he could sort through the mess in his head in peace. Only her voice stopped him.

 

“You might be onto somethin’, though.”

 

When she didn’t continue, Gage nearly growled in mounting frustration. He didn’t much care for drink, but there sure were times the boss made it tempting. While she might have needed the time to gather her thoughts, it was just as likely she got a kick out of goading him. “Wanna fill me in?”

 

“There ain’t much point to rules.” Finishing off the last of her Nuka Cherry, Cal set the empty bottle back on the dresser and gestured to the room around them. “Up here, at least.”

 

“You said it yourself, boss - it don’t have to be one or the other.”

 

Her lips twitching into a grin, Cal snorted, “I said a lot of things.” She sobered a moment later, a question in her gaze that didn’t match the conviction of her tone. “I wasn’t wrong. You _like_ pulling strings.”

 

“Yeah,” Gage admitted. “If it keeps me alive, I do. I ain’t gonna lie and say it wouldn’t have been fun to try pullin’ yours, just not in the way you think.”

 

“A puppet’s a puppet, Gage. There’s only one use for ‘em.”

 

With an exasperated sigh, Gage did the only thing he could think of. Closing the distance between them, he kissed her, long and hard. No more games, no more power plays. She either wanted him or she didn’t, and he’d find out which it was soon enough.

 

Her lips parted beneath his, and he half expected to taste his own blood. Instead, there was only the artificial sweetness of cherries and something else he’d never been able to define, save that it was unique to her.

 

Cal was breathless when he pulled away, and Gage couldn’t say he was doing much better. She reached for him, but he shook his head, his voice rougher than he intended when he told her, “You ain’t a puppet. Never were.”

 

That look he’d seen earlier was back in her eyes, the one he couldn’t quite place. It lingered this time, long enough to remind him of that balmy feeling that somehow managed to clog his throat and expand in his chest until he wasn’t sure he could contain it.

 

The boss reached out again, and with the same caution he’d shown her when all this started, laid her palm flat against his chest. The pressure of her fingertips against his sternum was light, almost tentative;  a question instead of a command. Wordlessly, Gage let her push him back on the bed and straddle his hips. She grabbed his wrists in a bruising grip, pinning his arms at either side of his head, and leaned forward to kiss him. Just as abruptly, she released him and sat back, her hands tracing idle patterns through the hair on his chest as she gazed down at him with an intensity that might have been unnerving if he hadn’t seen the flash of her teeth at her lip. Her movements became rougher, though no less unsure, a scowl building on her face until Gage caught her hands loosely in his.

 

“I don’t -   _Goddamnit_.” She released a breath that fluttered her choppy bangs, fixing a glare on some point behind him as she tried again. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doin’, Gage.”

 

“Don’t overthink it, boss,” Gage advised, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. “It ain’t that complicated.”

 

A roll of her eyes told him that was bullshit, and in some ways, she was right. No longer on opposite sides of the boss’s imagined war for dominance, neither quite knew their role or what to expect. Her frustration was born of the unknown, an uncertainty that he hadn’t seen from her since that first hesitant acknowledgement that whatever was between them went beyond the business of the park.

 

He couldn’t blame her; not then, and not now. Hell, he still had his doubts from time to time, but the one thing he’d never been more sure of in his life was _her_. They’d made it work with Nuka World, they could make this work, too. Even if it meant going back to the way things were.

 

Before that happened though, there was one thing he wanted. It didn’t begin to cover the list he’d made in his head, but if he got to scratch this one thing off, he’d consider all this awkward shit worth it.

 

Sitting up with Cal still in his lap, Gage cupped her face between his hands and brought his mouth down on hers once more. It lacked the ardor of their earlier kiss, but the rush of heat that stirred low in his belly made up for it. He heard the boss’s sharp intake of breath, felt her nails bite into his upper arms, the back of his neck, but instead of pushing him away, she was pulling him closer, as though the slightest distance between them was still too much. Gage took his time, refusing to be rushed. Maybe things _had_ gotten complicated, but as far as he was concerned, there was nothing simpler than this.

 

When the kiss ended, Cal stared at him, the usual tremor in her hands exaggerated as she absently touched her lips. Her eyes were wide for a moment before she blinked and chuckled, swiping at a strand of hair that had fallen into her face.

 

“You going soft on me, old man?”

 

Without looking away, Gage felt for her hand, and dragged it roughly against his crotch. “Not in the least.”

 

Whatever she’d been about to say was lost in a low hum of approval as he buried his face in her neck, and dropped a row of kisses along her throat, alternating between lips and teeth as he went. He slowed when he got to the steady beat beneath her jaw, relieved to find that, while fast, it wasn’t the skittering gallop he’d seen before. It was the last coherent thought he had as Cal ran teasing fingers along his sides and slipped her hand into the waistband of his jeans.

 

It wasn’t like he imagined, but it was still somehow everything he hadn’t known he’d wanted. He thumbed a tender spot on the side of his neck and knew it would be a deep purple by morning, if it wasn’t already. Cal’s neck was pointedly clear of any such evidence. She still hadn’t let him mark her and probably never would. That was fine; the boss was who she was, and it had never been his intent to go changing that. Letting go of the reins had been hard for her, and more than once, she’d fallen back on old habits. It was enough that she’d tried, though Gage was still trying to wrap his head around that.

 

Maybe that was why he was still awake while the boss was dead to the world. Trying to stay quiet, Gage slipped from the bed and with a muffled curse, promptly tripped over the damn bag of caps he still had to count and sent them clinking across the floor. A cautious glance in her direction showed him that Cal still slept. Gage frowned at that, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from the dresser and heading for the patio. He’d warned her about sleeping that heavy. It just wasn’t smart. He knew she didn’t do that shit when they were out in the parks, but the boss seemed to think she was safe here. Looked like they needed to have another talk.

 

Gage lit a cigarette and purposely tossed the lighter onto the bar, making as much noise as he could. The springs of the ancient mattress creaked as she stirred, but instead of asking what the fuck was going on, Cal rolled over, shoulders and back washed pale in the streaming moonlight.

 

Yeah, they really needed to talk, Gage silently groused, taking another drag of his smoke. If it were anyone else, she could be dead by now...

 

Except it wasn’t anyone else, and he...he was probably an idiot.

 

She’d told him she trusted him, in her usual blunt way. He’d believed her, too - it took a certain amount of trust to have the kind of misunderstanding they did earlier, more to figure out a way to make it work. But still, he hadn’t realized how far her trust in him went. Not until that moment.

 

The boss was a raider through and through, but there wasn’t nothin’ average about her. She wasn’t careless, and she didn’t make the same stupid mistakes he’d seen from so many others. If she thought she was safe, it’s ‘cause she was. Gage had her back and she knew it. And she had his; she’d proven that countless times already.

 

And tonight? That was for him, too. Had to be. The boss wasn’t in the habit of putting herself in uncomfortable situations, and she sure as hell didn’t compromise, yet she’d done both, in the span of a few hours. All because she was convinced it was what _he_ wanted. There’d been nothing to gain, aside from an incredible fuck, but it hadn’t started that way.

 

Rubbing the back of his neck, Gage sighed.

 

It hadn’t ended that way, either, if he was being honest. It wasn’t the kind of thing he’d ever say aloud, but that wasn’t just sex, no matter how good. Hell if he had a word for it, but fucking didn’t fit. Not anymore.

 

Flicking the remains of his cigarette out over the lift, Gage quietly made his way back to bed. Cal shifted as he slung an arm over the broad curve of her hip, turning to look at him over her shoulder.

 

“Snore, and I’ll smother you with that fuckin’ pillow,” she warned in a drowsy slur.

 

“Heh. No promises, boss.”

 

She grumbled something beneath her breath, but scooted towards him until her back was flush against his chest. Moments later, she relaxed into sleep. Breathing in the scent of her hair, it wasn’t long before Gage followed.


End file.
